Dan Gross: Couple gets sour news from 'Sweet Genius'

A couple contracted with Food Network's "Sweet Genius" contestant Chad Durkin for a wedding cake, but he arranged for a Chestnut Hill bakery to do the work.

By Dan Gross

Posted: September 20, 2012

TODD ROSS and Sunny Rinko are furious at Food Network's "Sweet Genius" contestant Chad Durkin over the old bake- and-switch.

Durkin was to bake, decorate and deliver a cake for their wedding Saturday at the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford, but on Tuesday he informed the couple that his reality-TV shooting would render him unable to fulfill the obligations. He told Ross on Wednesday that Bredenbeck's in Chestnut Hill would be making the cake.

Ross, who works in insurance in Dallas and is a Swarthmore native and nursing student, is sure Bredenbeck's will do a fine job, but that isn't what he paid for. The couple paid Durkin's CAD Culinary Design $700 in advance, and was to pay him another $700 on Saturday.

"He looked me in the eye and shook my hand and told me he would do a great job and he would be here to handle any details day of," Ross said.

"This cake was the single most important element to Sunny," Ross told us Wednesday.

"She put a ton of time and effort into choosing this cake and choosing and trusting Chad as the creator of the cake," Ross told us.

Durbin did not return our requests for comment Wednesday.

Dietl's son beaten at 'Nova

The son of high-profile security consultant Bo Dietl suffered a broken nose and a broken orbital bone during a fight early Sunday morning at Villanova University.

Beau Dietl, 18, is a Villanova freshman and, according to a police report, was assaulted by Maximo Almonte, 20, after a dispute over cab fare. The two men apparently shared a cab with a few other students, and Dietl confronted Almonte about not paying his share, confirmed Radnor Police Superintendent William Colarulo.

Almonte turned himself in to police Tuesday and was charged with aggravated and simple assault and released on bail.

It was Dietl's father who, in 2002, hired away Police Commissioner John Timoney to run his private security firm in New York. Dietl also appears regularly on Fox News and Don Imus' radio show.

Our call to Bo Dietl's office about his son, who we understand underwent facial surgery, was not returned Wednesday.

Nelson Diaz can vote again

Former judge and city solicitor Nelson Diaz will be able to vote after all. He complained Sunday on 6ABC's "Inside Story" that he wouldn't be able to vote because he lost his license and said that he hadn't missed an election since he was 18. Of course, as former state Attorney General Jerry Pappert began to point out on the show, the voter-ID law still allows you to cast a ballot and gives you a week to produce your ID. But, Diaz told us Wednesday that he has gotten a new license and his vote will now count.

OUT AND ABOUT

Florence and the Machine hung out at Frankford Hall (Frankford & Girard) Monday night. Florence Welch and her bandmates arrived in a party of 12 and drank mostly Smirnoff and soda from about 8:30 to 10 p.m. They played Tuesday at Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center.

Passion coming to PPL Park

We're told the Philadelphia Passion, our Lingerie Football League team, will play its home games next summer at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Union.

No details have been revealed officially, but we expect the team, which has played at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, to soon announce its plans.

New all-ages venue

Electronic-dance-music artists Figure and The Killabits are the inaugural performers at the new Soundgarden Hall (Columbus & Spring Garden), which opens Saturday. The all-ages concert venue from Mark Marek, who created G Lounge and Rumor nightclubs, is opening in partnership with concert behemoth Live Nation.

The venue will be a BYOB allowing patrons 21 and older to drink in the Hacienda Lounge. Those under 21 can dance on the main floor.

For info, visit sghphilly.com.

Contact Dan Gross at grossd@phillynews.com or 215-854-5963. Follow him on Twitter @PhillyGossip or at Facebook.com/dangrossphillygossip. Read his blog at PhillyGossip.com, or for his latest columns see philly.com/dangross.